


Masks

by GrumpyJenn



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Team as Family, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-09-19 23:49:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9466088
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrumpyJenn/pseuds/GrumpyJenn





	

"Tony..."

For Chrissakes, she'd followed him into the men's room again. Tony sighed and zipped up, then turned to face her, walked over to wash his hands.

Ziva wasn't meeting his eyes. That was rarely a sign of something good. Tony wondered if she was mad or sad, if she'd hit him or want to talk.

"What?"

"Ah," she started, and stopped. She took a deep breath. "I must apologize to you."

 _Wants to talk, then_. At least she met his eyes now, her expression locked in that still way she had when she covered strong emotion.

"If you're going to break a Rule, I'd rather Rule 12 than Six. Just sayin'."

She gave him a bare ghost of a smile.

"What is it, Ziva?"

"I... misjudged you."

Tony snorted out a laugh. "People do that all the time, as you very well know."

She still barely moved. Then he realized her expression wasn't sadness so much as it was guilt.

He sighed again. Ziva feeling guilty was a force to be reckoned with, not that she wasn't always. But she could beat herself up over the smallest things for ages.

"Tell me," Tony invited, and leaned back against the countertop.

"I... when we were in here, and I told you I... I could not..." She trailed off, looking uncomfortable.

"You couldn't trust me, because that trust had been betrayed. By Ari, and by Michael."

Ziva looked relieved that he had said it, and gave him the slightest of nods. "Yes... but Tony, that was not the only reason I did not trust you. I did not _choose_ to see behind the... behind the ladies' man and the clown, the masks you wear. You are my friend, and my partner, and I chose not to see _you_ until..." 

Tony found himself swallowing hard around the sudden lump in his throat. But Ziva was still talking, haltingly, as though the words were hard to say.

"But when I met your father, I saw... I..." She swallowed too, hard enough for Tony to see the movement in her throat. "Tony, I _know_ what it is the be the child of a man who sees you as a... an _adjunct_ , an accessory to himself. I... I _liked_ your father. But I did not like to see..." She trailed off again, and Tony could see by the brightness of her eyes that she was near tears.

He just stood up and wrapped his arms around her. She stood rigidly, still feeling too guilty to relax, Tony guessed. "They do love us, you know," he said quietly.

"Not as they should," Ziva whispered, and Tony felt her arms creep around his waist, returning the hug, relaxing incrementally.

"As much as they are able," he corrected her. Then he took a step back, slid his hands up to her shoulders, and looked her in the eye. "Besides, we have Gibbs."

"And each other."

"And the whole team."


End file.
